Satisfied with the tale he had told, the stranger sat back in his seat and looked to the ceiling rubbing his eyes. “Now ya see son. I told you that me and the old man were good friends.” Kevin stared at the stranger with fascination. This was more than a man with a cocky demeanour. He was something else entirely. Kevin eyed the burn on Officer Williams’ arm.

“Oh you want proof boy?” The stranger had seen Kevin’s curiosity and couldn't help but indulge. He placed his thin fingers right into the groves of the long scarred over burn. It fit perfectly. Officer Williams stirred in his sleep at the touch. A harsh scowl came across his face as the stranger pulled his hand away.

“It seems my time here has run thin Kevin Willia……. Kevin Carmichael” the stranger flashed his golden grin once more and rocked his head as he spoke as if to taunt Kevin. “That's not my name.” he replied defiantly. This caught the stranger off guard “keep that spark about you boy. You’re gonna need it.”

Kevin looked back at his guardian and wondered if he had only taken him in because he was threatened. Kevin loved him and he seemed to love Kevin with all his heart and soul. A deep fear came with the thought of confronting the ageing officer on what had been divulged to him this evening. For sixteen years had he just been accepted as a burden to carry?

“And oh Kevin” his head jolted around to the stranger's words. He stood face to face now closer than ever before with the stranger. His deep eyes roared with the fire of a thousand suns as he bore deep into Kevin's soul. “It's time to wake up” the stranger flicked Kevin's forehead and the world fell away from him into a deep black void.

Nothing. Absolute and total nothing. The space Kevin now found himself in was a deep black endless chasm of ever encroaching darkness. His head throbbed in waves of anguish. As if his very mind was terrified of the great haze that had been thrust upon it. It writhed to be set free of its torment. It was pounding like it was trying to escape his skull.

Kevin crashed down to his knees and held his head. The pounding increased in volume and frequency until it was a roar of pure aggression. Like the hounds set loose for a hunt. In a moment that felt like years it was over. Kevin lay panting on the ground, blood pouring from his ears, eyes and nose.

Sitting in front of him contrasted to the darkness was a girl of Kevin's age sat in a loose t-shirt and denim shorts with her back to him. Her short white hair shone like a beacon in the murk. Tips of blood red crimson adorned its messy jagged cuts. She seemed to notice Kevin’s presence all of the sudden. She flipped onto her hands and knees to face him.

“He said you would be here one day.” The mention of the stranger made Kevin's skin crawl and his blood boil with rage. “What did he do to me? Where am i? Who are…….” she interrupted his words with a finger over his lips. “I have listened to you for a long, long time. It's finally my turn to talk.” she sat back on her behind and for the first time Kevin looked her in the eye.

They were pitch black too. Pools of never ending perpetual darkness that were so deep they threatened to drown him. She observed him with a curiosity akin to a child seeing a dog for the first time. She smiled almost as wide as the stranger as she hummed a tune to herself whilst scanning Kevin’s bloodied face. She abruptly stopped and frowned.

“Why do you hate him?” Kevin stared confused at her out of the blue question. “The boy in your class. The one who sits behind you.” Why on earth was this girl talking about Todd Roberts? Kevin thought to himself. Whilst it was true that he had teased Kevin incessantly for years about his orphan status he had never thought of himself hating him.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“Are…….. Are you someone at my school?” sheepishly kevin asked of the mysterious girl. “Nah. you’ve never met me. Don't even know me. I know you though. I've been watching. From in here” she leaned forwards and playfully poked his chest. He recoiled back at the touch. She was impossibly cold. Her icy finger felt like a needle to his heart.

“I've been there since before you were born. Just watching and waiting. I've learned a lot about you.” she stood now and held out a hand to kevin. He took what was offered and shivered as her wintery grip pulled him up. His weight was no effort to her as she laughed and lifted him into the air.

“You know it's funny. Your ‘father’ is the man who killed your real one!” She burst into fits of laughter as Kevin's feet dangled helplessly in the air. Once her roars of jubilation had subsided she let him down and dusted off his shoulders. She rose up on her tiptoes to meet Kevin's eyes. She gestured in a direction behind her “c’mon he told you enough stories tonight. I'm just gonna give you the facts.”

She skipped along the endless void as Kevin followed close behind. She moved with a glee not fitting of their surroundings. “You know it's great to finally meet you. I've been waiting for the day he lets me.” she slowed her pace to meet Kevin and leaned her head on his shoulder “oh right the facts” she pushed herself away from him.

“I'm a friend. Trust me. I'm just here to look after you. By now you have worked out that he's not normal. Neither am I and by extension neither are you. I might talk to you about stuff from time to time. That A ok?” her final words were said in a mocking southern accent as if to imitate the stranger.

This girl was like nothing Kevin had ever seen. Whilst her appearance was striking her cadence was that of a kind childhood friend. She playfully skipped along and giggled to herself every time she glanced his way. “You haven't told me your name. I'm walking with a total stranger.” Kevin remarked to her.

“Hmmmmm I guess I never thought of a name for myself. I'm just me you know? There has only ever been me and you so i'm just me.” she placed a finger to her chin and pondered to herself. Kevin found it quite sad that this girl had spent all her life alone in the darkness of this void. He longed to show her the outside world. The smell of fresh cut grass, the dew of a summer morning.

“Nah, I've seen it all through your eyes. I'm ok in here. From here I can keep us safe.” her lips didn't move when she spoke. She had heard Kevin's thoughts like they were her own and replied inside his mind. Whatever this was they were obviously closely connected. A bond like no other ever forged.

“Ah here we are” slowly rising from the ground ashes began to slowly form together into a door. The girl gestured towards the handle. “C'mon you know this one. Lets go inside” she grabbed the rusted metal door handle and revealed Kevin’s bedroom. His sheets lay on the floor exactly as he had left them and his childhood baseball bat rested against its wooden frame.

“Wha…… how is this here?” Kevin was astounded at the sudden change of surroundings. He could see through the window of the room that they were still in the endless dark space. But this was his room. “I think you need a good long sleep” she lifted the beds covers and grabbed his hand. With an unexplainable strength she pushed him down into his bed.

“Trust me. Close your eyes. I'll be with you now. I'll never be alone again.” she smiled gleefully as she meticulously settled him in leaving no area of the sheet un tucked. She bought her face close to his as she leaned over him and whispered. “We’re gonna have fun. I know it” with a quick jerk backwards and a flick of her wrist her finger made contact with Kevin’s head in a flick.

Kevin sprung awake as he had done before. His thoroughly tucked sheets offered some resistance to his rise. The sun was blazing through the window like a beacon from the heavens that blinded his vision. “Dad?!” Kevin called as he leapt from his bed and crashed through the bedroom door.

“What did you call me?” Officer Williams stood in the kitchen of the small cabin. Kevin realised what he had said in his panic. He had never called the Officer that before. “Are you ok junior?” the officer held in one hand a dish sponge and another a small familiar whiskey glass. Kevin eyed the burn mark on the Officer's forearm.

“How did you get that again?” Kevin pointed towards the Officer's scarred arm. “Uh i told you before? Pulled a man outta car fire. His touch burned me. Junior, you called me dad.” The sudden realisation of what he had said hit Kevin like a train. Kevin forced the words from his mouth “I'm sorry. I had a bad dream.”

He longed for the Officer to tell him everything was ok and that it all indeed was just a dream. The officer himself would know that this would be a lie. A newfound feeling of mistrust grew in Kevin. Was Officer Williams ever going to tell him what he had now learned?“ the thought spiralled in his mind.

“Don't worry about him. You have me.”